


Laundry Day

by GeekingOutDaily



Series: Domestic Bliss [2]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Domestic Bliss, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Laundry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:00:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25378789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GeekingOutDaily/pseuds/GeekingOutDaily
Summary: Companian to And They Were Roommates, but can be read as a standalone.We finally get to witness Mike see the pink number on El
Relationships: Eleven | Jane Hopper/Mike Wheeler
Series: Domestic Bliss [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1837855
Comments: 8
Kudos: 21





	Laundry Day

El loved having her own washing machine. She didn’t really enjoy doing laundry that much, but the ability to avoid public laundromats brought her immense joy. Going to the laundromat, besides the hassle of dragging her loads of laundry and quarters with her, included the inevitable awkward companionship with the other laundry-goes next to her. Some tried to make small talk with her, which always ended in an awful silence, or one word answers that make her aware of how painfully shy she can be. Sometimes she’d end up waiting much longer than anticipated, questioning whether she should stick it out until she gets a turn or walk back the distance to her apartment, and come back when the demand might be lower. The worst was when she’d wash her clothes, but none of the dryers were available. Nothing better than hanging out with a lump of wet clothing around a bunch of strangers.

This led to El’s great love for her and Mike’s washing machine. The privacy, the availability, the lack of advice from strangers regarding her delicates. It was wonderful.

The domestic bliss, however, sometimes caused El to slack off in her washing habits. It was Thursday, 5 p.m., and El had no clean clothes. Desperate times called for desperate measures. 

Encouraging beverage in hand, El lugged her laundry hamper into the washroom. She pressed some buttons, letting the machine start the stream of water as she loaded some clothes in. Tossing the clothes in with her right hand, her left hand holding her can of pop steady, El was near the bottom of the heap of clothing (finally) when the expected complication occurred. 

Bending forward to reach the last pieces of clothing, her hand went along with the motion, spilling sticky-sweet liquid all over the bottom of her shirt and down the leg of her pants. Exasperated to have even less available options than expected, El set down the half empty can before peeling off her soiled clothing. She figured she’d simply wait in the room until the laundry was done, throw two pieces in the dryer and wear those until the rest dried as well. Fishing out the treacherous shirt and jeans from the bottom of the hamper, El tossed in the last of the dirty clothes, added the detergent and closed the machine.

She felt weird standing around in her underwear, crossing her arms over her bare stomach. She stared at the wall opposite her. Boring. She began reading the instructions on the side of the washing machine, positive she'd be well versed in all matters that are laundry by the time this ordeal was over.

Mike wasn’t thinking about much. It was Thursday evening, which meant laundry day. His clothing hamper was about half full, per usual. He imagined they might make pasta for dinner. He knew how to make meatballs. Deaf to the sound of the humming washing machine already in use, Mike made his way to the washroom. Swinging the door open, he was met with El’s back. Bare back. And backside. And a screech from El, turning around in surprise. A hastened shout of “occupied!” and yanking the doorknob towards her, shutting the door in Mike’s face.

He stood there, stunned. His brain yet to comprehend that he was standing in front of a closed door, all he could see was El, almost completely naked. Except her underthings. Namely, a pink, frilly, pair of underwear encasing her backside that had completely thrown Mike off. He wasn’t sure what kind of underwear he had expected her to wear under her usual casual clothing, but he had definitely not expected  _ that _ .

_ Pink. Frilly. _ Mike shook his head, in an attempt to free himself of the image.

_ El. Almost naked. _

His brain was not cooperating.

He turned back to his own room, sitting on the edge of his bed. His head felt both empty, and full to the brim with the thought El’s near nude body swimming around in there. He could hear faint thumps along with the usual hum of the washing machine.

El was mortified. Not only had Mike walked in on her in her underwear, he had seen her in the single pair meant to  _ draw attention _ to her. She was hitting her head against the now-closed door repeatedly when a small, evil voice in her head whispered “ _ this was the purpose of these. Lingerie. He was so red, maybe he enjoyed it.” _

Now banging her head against the door harder, El felt herself go even redder. Not only did Mike catch a glimpse of her, now she was obsessing over the glimpse. Now the short moment had hopes and wishes attached to it. Perhaps if she pounded her head hard enough she’d cause minimal brain damage and forget the incident altogether.

Later, during dinner, Mike made sure to announce out loud that he planned to use the washing machine.

_ Just trying to be convenient _ , he told himself.  _ Not at all related to earlier events. _

It took 3 and a half hours before they were able to make eye contact again.

Neither brought up the incident for quite some time.


End file.
